Cry
by DawnrunnerMoon
Summary: Erza's dark past still haunts her, but Lucy is there to make things okay, or at least to try. ErLu one-shot.


**Yes, another ErLu fanfic. I was going to write an ABC's of Erlu, hence the titles of the three fics I just posted, but I realized I couldn't so ... this is what you get. And agian, I don't own FAIRY TAIL!**

Even when something has happened in the past, it can come back to haunt you. You'll feel it creeping out of the recesses of your mind when you are in the dark, much like the shadows crawling across the walls of your room. You tell yourself that it's over, the past is the past, but you can't forget it. It's your memory, and you are stuck with it.

Lucy shivered and awoke. It was the middle of the night, and even though she pulled her blankets around herself, there was a warmth that was missing. She noticed the empty space next to her on the bed.

"Erza?" she mumbled sleepily. There was no reply. Lucy tried to keep her eyes open, but her dreams were beckoning her back to the dark abyss of sleep. However, right before Lucy fell into the unconscious world, a small sound made it's way through the dark room and reached her ears. It was a sob.

Lucy sat up immediately and saw Erza hunched over at the foot of their bed. The red haired girl had her arms wrapped around herself, trying to stop from shaking, but Lucy could see that silent sobs were racking her body. Each was worse than the next.

Lucy crawled clumsily as fast as she could to reach Erza. She put a hand on her shoulder, which the other girl shied away from. Lucy pulled away and sighed. She waited a few seconds and then inched forward tentatively until she was seated right next to Erza, their sides brushing.

"Erza …" Lucy said, leaning towards her girlfriend. The red haired girl had her eyes squeezed shut, but instead of jerking away, she leaned in to Lucy, her head resting on the blond's shoulder.

"It's okay …" Lucy said, wishing that there was something, anything she could say to make Erza's pain go away. She stroked her hand across the long red hair that was streaked with tears.

"It's not okay," Erza said, taking a shuddering breath. She tried to rub away the tears from her left eye.

"I thought I had moved on, I thought I was strong. I thought I could forget and accept what's happened to me and the people that I loved, and I thought I had. But at the end of the day, it always comes back, and it's just as frightening as the first time."

Lucy held Erza tighter and bit her lip. What was she supposed to say? That it would get better? That it would go away? Lucy had her own memories too, and she understood the pain that Erza felt, but there was nothing she could do about it. Erza continued to cry, but it was quieter.

"Erza … I … I want to help." Lucy kept one arm around her girlfriend's shoulder and moved her other to hold her hand tightly.

"I …"

"Lucy. You don't have to say anything. I'll deal with this on my own."

Lucy froze. She bit her lip again. "I can't do anything to make your memories go away, and I can't do anything to help you forget them, or accept them, but I can do something. I can be right here. You _don't_ have to deal with this on your own!" Lucy lifted Erza's chin to look into her eyes. "I don't want to say this, but you may be right. Maybe the pain and loss will never go away. Maybe it will haunt you for the rest of your life, but I will be here for the rest of your life too so …" Lucy fought to put her thoughts into words. She had so much that she wanted to tell Erza. She wanted to say that Erza had a friend to hear her sorrows and comfort her, but Lucy felt like that wasn't enough. She wanted to make the pain go away, even though she knew she couldn't, not with words.

Erza had stopped sobbing, but tears still fell down her cheek. She thought she had been done with that, after crying her whole life, but apparently not. She was thought of as one of the strongest people in the Guild, but she didn't feel like one. Guilt plagued Erza's heart as she saw Lucy in front of her, scared and sad too. Why? Erza hadn't wanted Lucy to be sad, she hadn't wanted to make her suffer with her. Why-

Then, Lucy's face became calm and clear. She leaned forward and kissed the tears off Erza's cheek. They glistened on her pretty lips. Erza's eyes widened. In that one moment she felt whole again. She forgot her pain for a second. It was as if it had been lifted off of her, just like how Lucy's lips had lifted the tears of her face. The blond girl didn't say anything but she smiled warmly at the red head. She took Erza's hand and pulled her back to where they had been sleeping. In a daze, Erza followed. They snuggled back down together underneath the blanket. Before they closed their eyes, Lucy brushed the hair away from Erza's ear.

"I know I can't do much," she whispered, "but I will always be there to kiss the tears away. So I don't want to ever find you alone at the foot of our bed again, do you hear me?"

Erza was still scared. She was still sad, but she let slip a little smile. She didn't have to say anything. She and Lucy snuggled back against each other, and closed there eyes. Dark shadows would always be creeping, lurking behind every corner, but maybe, if they were together, it would be easier to survive, no, to live with them.


End file.
